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RIP Aaron Swartz

I’m in academic publishing. My grandparents founded a publishing company. My father ran it for a decade. I sit on the board of directors. You could say academic publishing is in my blood.

Today I am nauseous. Aaron Swartz is dead. I don’t know whether or not he would be alive today if he wasn’t prosecuted so aggressively for “stealing” academic journal articles. But what I do know is that this is a dark day in our history. It is a stain on the entire academic publishing industry.

I fiercely believe that as academic publishers we make the world a better place. We do good. I also believe there is a place for publishers in the Internet age. We’re working hard to figure out how to navigate these times. But everyone involved in this industry should be ashamed today.

We lost a genius. We lost a rebel.

I’m proud to be in publishing. But today I am nauseous. Today I am deeply sad. Today I am ashamed.

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One thought on “RIP Aaron Swartz”

Aaron Swartz was a decent, honest man. Unfortunately the ruling “elite” of modern official “science” is criminal and guided by self-interest does not give people access to the results of recent research. This criminal “scientific elite” slows the progress of science and humanity. Aaron spoke against these criminals. He was a brave man. Rest in peace, Aaron Swartz!